An Emergency Trip to Dick's Sporting Goods

Sunday, August 23, 2026

I received a somewhat frantic text massage from Jacob this morning.

It was in reference to his football cleats that were in their second season of use. Unfortunately, they were coming apart due to the usage, could we go to Dick's Sporting Goods in Thousand Oaks and look at a new pair?

Thus, at 4:00 p.m., we were off to Highway 101's Conejo Grade, the Gateway to Thousand Oaks.

It didn't take long for Jacob to find a pair of Nike high-tops in one of Camarillo High School's colors, Columbia blue.

A successful shopping trip . . .

I found out today that football cleats are decidedly not cheap.

. . . deserves a joyful meal

with tacos of all sorts

Jacob was now a happy camper on two levels.

Speaking of Camarillo H.S. Scorpions football . . .

Jacob's Frosh team will be in action

again this coming Thursday

The Frosh Scorpions (0-1) will be on the road again to take on the Moorpark Musketeers (0-1).

Moorpark lost their season opener to the Apple Valley H.S. Sun Devils, 31-7.

Time for a global football update . . .

In Lyon, France, the Falcons

will start practicing again

on September 1st

Clever Falcons recruitment ploy

If you weigh more than 110 kg/242.5 lbs., the Falcons will reduce (perhaps a bad word choice) your licensing fee by 100€.

Anything to attract more linemen, good idea I'm thinking.

This was the last weekend of the

American Football League of Europe's

inaugural regular season

Wroclaw Panthers (10-2) beat

the Berlin Thunder (5-7)

The Panthers season will continue in the AFLE Playoffs.

Both the Rhein Fire (10-2) and

the London Warriors (6-6) are

Playoff bound

Vienna Vikings (11-1) routed the

Firenze Red Lions (0-12)

The Vikings are the AFLE's #1 Playoff seed.

Alpine Rams (3-9) outlasted the

Paris Lights (3-9)

No AFLE Playoffs for either of these two clubs.

The Final 2026 AFLE Standings

AFLE Playoff Semifinals

Saturday, August 29th

#4 seed, London Warriors (6-6)

at

#1 seed, Vienna Vikings (11-1)

Sunday, August 30th

#3 seed, Wroclaw Panthers (10-2)

at

#2 seed, Rhein Fire (10-2)

For the AFLE's rival league, the

European Football Alliance . . .

 

. . . their Championship Game

is this coming Saturday in

Innsbruck, Austria

#1 seed, Nordic Storm (10-1)

vs.

#2 seed, Munich Ravens (10-1)

This one should be a doozie!

Then there were Championship posters from the creative mind of Ron DellaDonna and his two fake leagues:

Latin American Football League

Go Buenos Aires Sol!

Asian Football Association

Go Tokyo Samurai!

Finally, news from the Mexican college scene . . .

The Big-14 Power Rankings

Of note, the #13 rated Zorros CETYS (Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior/Center for Technical and Higher Education), with campuses in Mexicali, Ensenada and Tijuana, will play a game on September 12th in California against the Whittier College Poets.

GAME ON, I'LL BE THERE!

Another good day, thank goodness.

A Glorious Saturday Just Meant for Some Football!

Saturday, August 22, 2026

I got a call from son Michael inquiring about joining him to watch a college football scrimmage this afternoon.

Why not!

It was a 1:00 p.m. workout between two local colleges to be played under the scorching August Sun in Thousand Oaks. 

This local two year Community College

was scrimmaging . . .

 

. . . NCAA DIII California Lutheran University

It's been a minute since CLU's

last SCIAC Championship

A GREAT chance meeting

We ran into former Newbury Park H.S. Head Football Coach and their current Athletic Coordinator, Jason Klein.

We had a grand time of it!

We gravitated to the one-on-one pass blocking/pass rushing drills.

Loud football collisions does something for my blood pressure.

Moorpark DL getting held

Low pad usually wins

A fine battle

Let's take a look at a live rep

Good body posture by both

of these lads

A Raiders Edge Rusher and a

Kingsmen LT about to get HECTIC!

Cal Lutheran about to complete

a pass in the final scrimmage

Our biggest takeaway was that CLU has a lot of work to do on their Kicking Game before the season starts.

Next Saturday evening, August 29th, the Moorpark College Raiders will be at home against the Fullerton College Hornets in their campaign opener.

As for the California Lutheran University Kingsmen, their 2026 season starts on Saturday, September 5th, in Tacoma, Washington vs. the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes, a possible Holy War in the making.

Those are traditionally tough opening games for both local schools.

I enjoyed today's event immensely.

It's Time for Dodgers Baseball! Once Again Thanks to Paul Sabolić

Friday, August 21, 2026

Thanks to the generosity of Paul Sabolić, we gave up on the idea of attending a high school football season opener to see Laurie's passion, the Los Angeles Dodgers, play tonight.

Paul had originally given his tickets to the game to his daughter and son-in-law but a last minute change in his son-in-law's work schedule forced him to give up the ducats.

We were going to attend the Simi Valley-Valencia game with the Sabolićs but Laurie's Dodgers mania won out.

Dodger Stadium, HERE WE COME!

Pittsburgh Pirates

63 Wins - 66 Losses

Fourth Place National League Central

17 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers

at

Los Angeles Dodgers

77 Wins - 61 Losses

First Place National League West

7 games ahead of the San Diego Padres

As is our want, we headed to the ballpark early with the thought of eating at one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall dining spots in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium.

Chico's Mexican Restaurant

got the nod

A new Mexican lager for Laurie

The responsible driver that I am, water was my beverage of choice.

The tacos and tostada that we ordered absolutely hit the spot!

Fully sated, we were off to Chavez Ravine!

Parking at "Blue Heaven on Earth"

is a mere $45

Thankfully, Paul's season tickets include a Parking Pass for each game.

The Pirates were still taking

batting practice as we found our seats

The main reason that we arrived so early to the game was the Dodgers promotional giveaway to the first 40,000 fans in attendance.

The giveaway was this

Luka Dončić bobblehead doll

Wait just a second, Dončić is the star player for the Los Angeles Lakers not the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The tie-in was simple enough. As it turns out, the Dodgers owner, Mark Walter, was, until earlier this week, also the owner of the Lakers.

He sold his interest in the Lakers for a mere $12,000,000,000.

Yes, TWELVE BILLION DOLLARS USD!

Our two bobbleheads securely in hand, one that would go to expanding Paul's grandson Parker's sports oriented bobblehead doll collection, I opted to leave the comfort of our Loge Level seats to explore other parts of the ballpark.

The view from the top of the Club Level

Mural of former beloved Dodgers

reliever, Joe Kelly

Now up in the Upper Deck Level,

aka, the Nose Bleed seats

A tribute mural to the

Dodgers Brooklyn roots

Why the "Dodgers" you ask?

Here is your answer

The Dodgers name has a good basis in Brooklyn lore but I, for one, would have gone with the Superbas.

I loved going to Dodgers games

at the Coliseum as a yougster

The Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox

in the 1959 World Series in six games

The Upper Deck had a series of tribute boards to past Dodgers who played in baseball's Mid-Summer Classic, the All-Star game.

Here are some that I liked.

Duke Snider was my favorite

Dodger as a youth

Gino Cimoli was an All-Star

in 1957?

Who knew?

Gil Hodges was a GREAT Dodger!

Van Lingle Mungo was an

All-Star in 1934, 1936 and 1937

Mungo is on everyone's all-time All-Name team.

Of course, Jackie Robinson's

image was on this one

Pee Wee Reese

"The Noblest Dodger of Them All"

Dodger Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto's

first pitch of the game

Dodger Stadium Legend

Roger Owens - The Peanut Man

Incredibly, he has been selling peanuts at Dodgers games since they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958!

I vividly remember him artfully tossing peanuts behind his back at the Coliseum over 60 years ago.

An amazing fixture at Dodgers games for decades.

The game went into extra innings

The game was tied 4-4 heading into the tenth inning.

Dodgers Second Baseman Tommy Edman hit a walk-off single to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the home team a 5-4 win.

Good times, INDEED!

Flash the stadium lights, cue the music . . .

"I LOVE L.A.!"

Hvala Paul!

Opening Frosh Football Game of the Season: Camarillo Scorpions at Santa Barbara Dons

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Today was the first day of the 2026 high school football season for the Camarillo H.S. Scorpions Frosh team.

But first . . .

Mary enjoying a moment in the

sprinklers at Las Colinas Middle

School after her Cross Country

practice on Wednesday

She is enjoying her long distance running for the Mustangs so far.

Back to Frosh football . . .

Camarillo H.S. Scorpions (0-0)

at

Santa Barbara H.S. Dons (0-0)

4:00 p.m. Kickoff

SBHS starting their 151st

year of operation

It was a BEAUTIFUL day for

American Football!

Grandson Jacob is #32

involved in pre-game warmups

Jacob on a . . .

. . . Reverse

Game time and . . .

. . . the Dons returned the opening

Kickoff for a TD

Definitely not the way the Scorpions wanted to start their season.

The Scorpions returned the

ensuing Kickoff all the way

to the nine yard line!

The Dons defense stiffened . . .

. . . and kept Camarillo at bay

End of the First Quarter

Santa Barbara - 7

Camarillo - 0

Scorpions on the Attack

Trench Warfare as was needed

Good Scorpion Pass Protection

Again with solid OL play

The Camarillo passing game . . .

. . . eventually led . . .

. . . to a Scorpion TD!

A fake PAT attempt was good for

TWO POINTS!

Jacob covering another Kickoff

Dons QB on the perimeter

Halftime

Santa Barbara - 13

Camarillo - 8

Camarillo Kickoff Return

Zone Read

Throwing the Rock

It could have been worse for #2

Camarillo Breakaway

One-on-One with a cast

to bludgeon the WR

Nice Scorpion Decal

Bring down the ball carrier

any way possible

End of the Third Quarter

Santa Barbara - 13

Camarillo - 8

OL hustling downfield

Dons grinding down the clock

Catch-As-Catch-Can

Camarillo Defense on the Goal Line

TD Santa Barbara!

Camarillo KO Return

Solid Dons tackle

Completion Camarillo

Still winging it to the end

Jacob at DE

Maintaining Outside Leverage

Pursue the ball and . . .

. . . make a tackle

The Pit can be ever so hectic

Nice open field tackle

Honoring the QB's fake

Final Score

Santa Barbara (1-0) - 20

Camarillo (0-1) - 8

Jacob was still upbeat after the game

Despite five Offensive turnovers, I thought that the Scorpions showed a lot of grit in keeping the game close until the end of the game.

First games tend to be sloppy and this one was for both teams.

For Camarillo, they will vie for their first win of the season on the road next Thursday at 4:00 p.m. against the Moorpark H.S. Musketeers.

318 N. Milpas St., Santa Barbara

Laurie and I opted for a postgame meal and stumbled upon this brand new BBQ spot that was in only its second day of operation.

Their food was good but it was their side order of yams that we both raved about. Probably the best that we've ever had.

That's saying something!